Bizzaro World

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33.

One of the funniest episodes of Seinfeld years ago was when George decided that his life would be better if he would simply do the opposite of what his mind told him.  Once he went against his normal thinking, everything always ended up to his benefit.  He called this new found thinking Bizarro World but quickly found it was a way of life that he was unable to sustain.

Are you aware that Jesus spoke more about the kingdom of God than any other topic?  In Matthew alone He referred to the kingdom over 80 times.  He even placed it right in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer as the meat of our spiritual life (Matthew 6:9-13).  Jesus understood that living with a kingdom-driven agenda meant to zig when the world said to zag…to refrain when the world said to act…to die to self when the world said it is all about self. 

What does our life look like when we are operating with a kingdom-driven agenda?  We consider the needs of others over ourselves.  We pursue God’s responses instead of our own emotional responses when those wound us.  We pray for those who ridicule and slander us.  In the face of adversity we choose to worship instead of worry, to give instead of to take.  When living a kingdom-driven agenda our priorities stack up against the things that are important to God.  ‘The truth is that whatever worries us is probably a good gauge of our priorities.  That is to say, if we spend time and energy worrying about something, chances are we are holding that thing in fairly high esteem. ..The promise from Jesus is that if we have kingdom priorities, then we really don’t have to worry about anything else.  God will provide in all other areas.’ Subversive Kingdom, p. 29-30.   

Unlike George, in our new found thinking, we have a Father who will help us sustain that new way of living.  We must be kingdom-driven in all aspects of our life such as work, family, friendships, community and in our church.  When every aspect is bent towards the cross, we find ourselves in need or want of nothing. 

After all, we are citizens of another world… “Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world…But now my kingdom is from another place’” John 18:36.